CentOS vs Flatcar Container Linux comparison

CentOS and Kinvolk are both solutions in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category. CentOS is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.7, while Kinvolk is ranked #15. CentOS holds a 6.1% mindshare in OSB, compared to Kinvolk’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of CentOS users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Kinvolk users who would recommend it.

CentOS

Read 68 CentOS reviews

9,669 Views
9,855 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Flatcar Container Linux

Read 1 Flatcar Container Linux review

718 Views
567 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

CentOS

Flatcar Container Linux

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between CentOS and Flatcar Container Linux based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat, Canonical, Oracle and others in Operating Systems (OS) for Business.

To learn more, read our detailed Operating Systems (OS) for Business Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Operating Systems (OS) for Business

January 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

CentOS

Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business

6th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Flatcar Container Linux

Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business

15th

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of CentOS is 6.1%, down from 8.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Flatcar Container Linux is 0.4%, down from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Operating Systems (OS) for Business

Featured Reviews

Mahender Nirwan

Software developer at TAIGLE LLC

In-depth documentation available and command-line utility works well

One issue I recently faced, but I think it was due to my IT support guys, was that when the server storage gets full, the service crashes. It's very difficult to regain access and stability in that situation. That could be improved. So, the stability might be improved. But I don't think it's a CentOS-level issue. The system administrators need to come up with a solution for that, but I don't think it's CentOS's fault. I haven't done any research [R&D] on this issue. There's one thing for sure. We recently migrated from CentOS 7 to CentOS 9, and it was a bit difficult. For example, updating Windows is simple; you just download it, and it takes about 15-20 minutes. But that's not the case with migrating from CentOS 7 to 9. We had to back up the entire server, launch a new server, and then restore the backup to the new server. We couldn't directly migrate. I think that was a bit of a problem. The setup and updates are not that new in CentOS.

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Yogesh Deore

Senior Consultant at Capgemini

The solution is stable and allows us to make needed changes

The development teams could sharpen their skills. They should offer applications on the net I have eight years of experience with Flatcar Container Linux. The version of Flatcar Container Linux that I am using is stable. The scalability of this product is fine. It allows us to make the needed…

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The most valuable feature of this solution is that it is free."

"We used the solution as an operating system."

"Offers useful information and has good compatibility."

"It's easy to install."

"A valuable features of CentOS is that it's quite stable and doesn't crash often. It's also quite intuitive."

"It’s scalable."

"The user access level is most valuable. When you do administration with CentOS, the number of customizations that you can do for each user is higher than other solutions. It is very customizable."

"The product's initial setup phase was straightforward and not complex, especially if you are familiar with CLI."

More CentOS pros

"Flatcar's support is good. The version I am using is stable and allows us to make needed changes."

Cons

"CentOS is very close to the end of life."

"CentOS can be somewhat difficult for beginners, as it has a complex UI, especially for those not in the IT field."

"They could build more options into the wizard."

"Integration with Open Stack could be improved."

"GUI could be merged and expansion simplified."

"In the future, CentOS will no longer be compatible with Red Hat."

"The price could be better. They could add more drivers in terms of peripherals and other things. Add more drivers for the Linux specifications in the next release. Right now, they are just pushing to have more drivers for Windows instead of Linux."

"It would be useful if reporting were included as part of the basic license."

More CentOS cons

"The development teams could sharpen their skills. They should offer applications on the net."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We use the free, open-source solution because we cannot afford the price for Linux."

"For the enterprise version of CentOS, there is a license required. However, for personal use, I do not need a license."

"CentOS is free."

"The solution is free of cost to use."

"This is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs involved."

"It is open-source, which means it is a free product. It has a one-time deployment cost."

"There are no licensing costs for CentOS."

"The solution is open source."

More CentOS pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Comparison Review

it_user281973

Storage and VMware Expert at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees

Aug 24, 2017

It's improved our company's system environments that run Oracle databases.

Red Hat is mission critical to our environment Red Hat has improved the mission critical environments running Oracle databases, while CentOS has improved our web environment and MySQL. Oracle and SAP Environment and all HPC environments. 10 years No issues Very stable i don´t find any problem…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

22%

Manufacturing Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

University

11%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

Which would you choose - RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) or CentOS?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is fantastic. It is an inexpensive solution that has excellent security, performance, and stability, and also lots of features. I specifically like that the solution has fe...

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What do you like most about CentOS?

CentOS is very easy to use, and all the commands are user-friendly.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CentOS?

I am not responsible for the setup cost in my company, so I am unsure about the cost of the license.

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Comparisons

Oracle Linux vs CentOS

Compared 45% of the time

Ubuntu Linux vs CentOS

Compared 9% of the time

Windows Server vs CentOS

Compared 9% of the time

SUSE Linux Enterprise vs CentOS

Compared 8% of the time

More CentOS Competitors

Ubuntu Linux vs Flatcar Container Linux

Compared 70% of the time

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs Flatcar Container Linux

Compared 14% of the time

SUSE Linux Enterprise vs Flatcar Container Linux

Compared 8% of the time

More Flatcar Container Linux Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

CentOS

February 2025

Download CentOS product report

Buyer's Guide

Operating Systems (OS) for Business

January 2025

Download Flatcar Container Linux product report

Overview

CentOS is a versatile operating system with many use cases, including virtual spaces, scientific computing, data center servers, web-based applications, and more. Its valuable features include customization options, low memory consumption, performance, scalability, open-source nature, cost-saving, and compatibility with Red Hat packages.

The solution has helped organizations save money on licensing and improve testing capabilities for new implementations without spending additional resources. CentOS is a stable, reliable, and efficient operating system that is easy to use and integrate with other applications and services.

CentOS

Flatcar Container Linux is a lightweight, secure, and reliable operating system designed for running containers at scale with automatic updates and a minimal attack surface. The solution is easy to use and manage and has a simple and intuitive command-line interface and a powerful set of tools for managing containers and clusters.

It supports various container runtimes, including Docker, Kubernetes, and Mesos. It can be deployed on various infrastructure platforms, including bare metal, virtual machines, and cloud environments. Flatcar Container Linux is an ideal choice for organizations deploying containerized applications in production environments.

Kinvolk

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

CISCO, mettle, Microsoft, Upguard, GMX

Buyer's Guide

Operating Systems (OS) for Business

January 2025

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